Masonry describes two, closely related, entities:
- Structures formed by collections of single units that are bound together by mortar, i.e. a brick wall (hundreds or thousands of individual bricks 'stuck' into one solid wall by the application of mortar).
- The single units themselves are also referred to as 'Masonry' (the most commonly used are brick, stone, marble and granite).
Masonry and walls
In residential buildings, when dealing with Masonry, we are generally dealing with walls. The advantages of using Masonry to construct walls are numerous:
- It is very durable
- It is weather resistant
- It helps maintain internal temperature
- It does not need to be painted
- It does not catch fire easily
The degree to which a given wall performs in criteria 1, 2, and 3 depends on the qualities of the material used and the quality of the workmanship. Rising Damp, in particular, can penetrate the Masonry of a building so a Damp Proof Course is usually fitted to guard against this. A Surveyor will be able to ascertain any defects in a wall and what can be done to remedy them.
